


The story of a Champion

by MorganaGaia



Category: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls - Fandom
Genre: Adventure, Cyrodiil, Elder Scrolls - Freeform, Elder Scrolls Lore, Fantasy, Magic, Swordfighting, Tamriel, oblivion, the elder scrolls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-27 21:11:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6300592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorganaGaia/pseuds/MorganaGaia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an Imperial by the name of Wilder is thrown into prison, he meets Emperor Uriel Septim VII by a twist of fate. When the Emperor gives Wilder a mission that could decide the worlds fate, will he have what it takes to complete the task? Or will he fall, letting the gates to Oblivion open and consume the world?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prison

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Welcome to my story, let me explain a few things to start off. This story will be following the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion However, because of how diverse the Elder Scrolls games are, I'm not limiting the story to just the main quest. I'll be covering a few side quests if they fit into the story without upsetting the flow of it and I'll also be covering the Shivering Isles DLC sometime during the story. I hope you enjoy Wilder's adventure through Cyrodiil

I knew I shouldn't have agreed to it, I knew I shouldn't have. That was the stupidest thing I've ever done,Yet I still agreed to do it.

“Well well well, an Imperial in an Imperial prison! That's a laugh!” I heard a voice from the other side of the room. 

I looked out the bars of my prison cell to see a dark elf in the cell across from me.

“How does It feel to have your own race turn against you, huh?” he said grinning. 

“What are you In here for anyway?”

I didn't really like the way this guy was talking to me, but I was already at rock bottom, might as well tell him my story. I had nothing to lose.

“A friend of mine thought it would be smart to sneak into the mage's guild headquarters and snag a few crystals or spell books or whatever he could get his hands on to sell for a few quick septim's. We of course, got caught and he made a break for it, leaving me to end up here.”

The dark elf was silent for a moment before his grin faded. 

“You tried to rob the headquarters? Here in the imperial city?”

“Yeah,” I responded backing away from the cell door, not really wanting to continue this conversation.

The dark elf started laughing.

“I was thinking about giving you the benefit of the doubt! You know like greater the risk greater the reward, but you're just plain stupid!”

“Yeah, yeah” I muttered taking a seat on the cold stone floor. 

At least the cell was nice and spacious. I got my own table and chair. Even if the chair looked like it was about to break just by touching it.

Who was I kidding, this place was hell.

I was made to wear dirty sack clothing and pants that had so many holes in them they probably weren't even considered pants anymore. I also had shackles around my wrists. They weren't connected to each other though, just to each wrist. They were probably to identify a prisoner if they escaped, even though they didn't look too durable.

“So, where do you think your friend is now?” he asked after he had finished laughing.

“Probably kicking back at the house or something, celebrating the fact he didn't get caught” I said knowing he probably didn't care he left me for dead.

“Such a nice friend you got there” the dark elf said.

You're telling me” I responded.

We sat in silence for what seemed like forever but was probably just an hour. 'Time down here flowed differently than out there' I thought looking to the smallest window I had ever seen that was high up on the back wall letting in barely any sunlight.

The noise of a door opening from down the hall broke my thought. I could make out the faint voices of people talking but it wasn't loud enough to make out any words.

“They're here!” the dark elf hissed through the bars of his cell. 

“Who's here?” I asked, standing to get a better look down the hall.

“The guards, they're coming for you! I'm guessing death sentence myself” he laughed.

“Bastard,” I muttered.

Footsteps began coming towards the cells. Getting louder with each second. Whoever this was, they sure seemed in a hurry. I could see the dark elf grinning from ear to ear as he winked at me.

'He better die down here' I thought.

A guard came in front of my cell door as I slowly backed away. She didn't look happy when she saw me.

At this moment I thought I was going to die. My sentence was life in this prison, but with the times we live in I wouldn't put it past the guards to decide a prisoner's fate. 

“Hey, why is there a prisoner In this cell! I thought we gave specific orders to keep this empty!” she barked at one of the other guards that appeared.

“Sorry ma'am, must have been a mix up,” he responded.

“Whatever, just get this door open, and hurry!” she said as the guard began searching for a specific key on a key ring.

'If they didn't know someone was in here, then what did they want?' I wondered.

“Back to the wall prisoner, and don't even think about moving unless you want a sword through your chest” she said giving me a glare that burned through my eyes.

If looks could kill.

The door swung open and in walked the two guards. Someone had stayed behind them while they harassed me, as soon as I caught a glimpse of who it was I couldn't believe my eyes. 

Before me stood Emperor Uriel Septim VII, the twenty first ruler of the empire in Tamriel.

What was he doing here?  
“Don't move” the female guard said as the male guard pulled one of the chains that hung from the ceiling. He then pushed two brick's into the wall. Doing so caused a part of the wall to open. 

“We must go Emperor, quickly now” he said as began to guide the emperor through the door.  
The Emperor took a quick glance at me as he passed, then stopped.

“You, I know you” he said. “Let me take a closer look at your face”.  
He took a step closer to me as the guard drew her sword.

“Emperor! Stay back from this villainous scum!”

“Well isn't that a little rude” I said as she threw me a very disapproving glare.

“You're in here for a reason” she snapped.

“Correct,” I shot back “and you don't even know why.”

“Doesn't matter,” she said “a prisoner's a prisoner, regardless of what they've done.”

“It is quite alright, lay your weapons” the emperor said motioning with his hand for the guard to stop. He then turned back to me.

“It is you, the one from my dreams, the one that will end this vicious battle. This is the day, gods give me strength”.

“Sorry, but I'm a little lost” I said taking a step back.

“I would explain further but I don't have much time. My sons were attacked and killed by assassin's and I am next” he said. “My guards, the blades, are leading me out of the city which, by chance, is through your cell”.

“Strange coincidence huh?” I said still not sure why he was so interested in me.

“Possibly” he responded, looking to the window at the back wall. “Or perhaps the gods have placed you here for us to meet. As for how you got here, it does not matter, that is not what you will be remembered for”.

“Remembered for? What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Please sire, there isn't much time, we must keep moving” one of the guards said as the led the emperor through the entrance in the wall.

“I don't have time to explain,” he told me. “You will know when the time comes.”

“Better not close the entrance, there's no way to open it from the other side” one of them said as they looked to me. “Looks like today's your lucky day prisoner, don't get in our way though, or we will kill you”.

“Noted” I said as he walked after the others.  
'Well, lady luck is smiling upon me today' I thought to myself as I began to step through the entrance.

“Wait!” I heard the voice of the dark elf from the cell across mine.  
I looked at him through the bars of my cell.

“You have to help me! You have an escape route, we could escape together! Become partners!” he suggested with a fake smile.

“Enjoy prison life my friend!” I said throwing him a wink as I walked through the passage.

“You better die down there!” I heard him scream as I got further and further away. I had only been in the cell for a few hours and I already couldn't wait to get out of there. 

Prison wasn't for me, I wouldn't be able to stay there for the rest of my life.

I caught up to the guards and the emperor as they were in mid battle against some attackers. The emperor approached me with his weapon drawn. 

“Stay back, it's dangerous, my blades will handle this”.

I nodded as one of the guards came up to the emperor.

“They are all gone my lord, we can move on now”.

“Good, and what of captain Renault?” 

“She, uh, didn't make it sire. We must keep moving though, I will not let her death be in vain”.

The emperor nodded as the guard let him down the stairs.

“It's dangerous here prisoner, don't try to follow us” the guard said approaching me.

“I'm pretty good in a fight you know” I told him.

“That may be true, but right now you would only get in the way”.

“Doubt it” I muttered as he walked away.

He led the emperor through a door and closed it behind him. I wasn't staying here, this place was horrible. I walked over to captain Renault's body and took her sword off of her. A katana with an engraving. It read 'Renault of the Blades'.

I took the Katana and eased it under the shackle on my left arm. I put the blade against the wall and pulled upwards. After a bit of pulling, the bolts holding the shackle around my wrist snapped and the whole thing came off. I did the same with the other then took the Katana's sheath and held it from my side. I knew the shackles weren't too durable

I approached the door and turned the handle.

Locked. 

Did they really have to do that? I wouldn't have gotten in the way that much.

I had to improvise, there was no other way to go but back to my cell.  
I looked around until I heard a noise come from the wall to my right. When I got closer, the wall crumbled and two rats came running towards me.

“Great” I muttered as I drew my sword.

I stabbed one rat and threw it aside as I sliced the others back open.  
I felt kind of bad for doing that but it was either kill them or risk getting some disease they were carrying.

I walked through the opening in the wall that the rats came through seeing as it was my only option left and entered a dark passage. It smelled horrible.

I kept on walking until the space started to get smaller and I had to crouch. Not too soon after I felt something crunch beneath my feet. I looked down and noticed I was walking on someones skeleton.

“Oh gods, uh, sorry about that” I said removing my foot.

The skeleton had a bow and some arrows in a quiver beside it.

“You don't mind if I borrow these, do you?” I asked putting the bow around my chest and the quiver on my back.

“Well, even if you did I don't think you're going to say much”.

I continued down the passage for what felt like too long until I heard footsteps. I carefully walked forward until I noticed another opening that looked down into a room. In that room was the emperor and his guards. I had managed to make it around the locked door into the other room. I was going to wait until they left so I could follow them without getting yelled at for getting in the way until I heard the guard draw his sword.

“Stay back emperor!” he said as his blade clashed with another that was held by someone in red robes.

I jumped down when I noticed two more robed figures and drew my bow. I had some experience with a bow and a two handed sword, but not enough to take on enemies like these on my own. I aimed the arrow at the enemy that was to the left of the guard and let the arrow fly. It went right in front of the guards face and straight into the stomach of the enemy.

He fell forwards and stopped moving. The guard looked at me with wide eyes.

“I got your back,” I said smiling. I just saved his life while looking cool.

“That arrow almost hit me in the face! One step forward and I would have been dead!” he screamed.

“Is that anyway to talk to someone who just saved your life!?” I asked, “That guy would have stabbed you!”  
“I have this under control,” he said as I walked towards him.

“You didn't even see red robes over there, you should thank me for saving you.”

“Thank you for helping me while also putting my life in more danger than It was,” he said in a smart tone, “That satisfy you?”

“I'll take it,” I grumbled.

“Hey!” the robed enemy in front of us yelled, “We're in the middle of a fight!”

“Whatever,” I said rolling my eyes as the guard sliced the enemy across the chest.

I drew the katana and gave it a swing at the other enemy, knocking their sword away from them and shoved my sword through his stomach.

“You're really not too bad in a fight you know,” the guard said, “what fighting experience do you have?”

“Nothing outside of hunting and fighting off bandits on the outskirts of the imperial city,” I told him while putting the katana back in it's sheath.

One of my favorite pass times was hunting with the same 'best friend' who abandoned me when we got caught. Often times there would be bandits roaming around attempting to rob us. We would have to fight them off and it proved to be useful training.

“Well it seems you're more useful than I originally thought you were. The emperor seems to think better of you than your title of prisoner, you should stick close and help protect the emperor. With just myself on the job it could get bad fast without any help.”

“Sure,” I said extending my hand towards him, “the name's Wilder, what's yours?”

“Baurus,” he responded, shaking my hand.

“Well Baurus, it'll be nice to not be called prisoner every two seconds.”

“Sorry about that,” he laughed, “I'll be sure to use your name from now on, Wilder.”

I nodded and looked towards the emperor who was approaching us. He was dressed in long red robes which suited someone of his status.

“I see you two have become acquainted,” he said smiling at the both of us.

“It's great to be able to meet you emperor,” I said as Baurus re-lit the torch he was recently using.

“Likewise, Wilder. I suppose if you'll be traveling through this underground tunnel with us then I should probably explain what I was talking about when we first met.”

“That would be appreciated,” I told him as the three of us started making our way deeper into the tunnel, “because I am still completely confused about all that.”


	2. Life and Death

“So I was the one in your dreams who fought off the daedra coming out of the oblivion gates?”

“That is correct.”

The three of us continued through the tunnel as the Emperor told me about his dream. He told me that the gates to Oblivion were opening up around Cyrodiil and Daedra were coming through them from the planes of Oblivion. In the dream, there was a warrior who stood up and defended Cyrodiil from the Daedra, driving them back to the planes of Oblivion and closing the portals between the two worlds. He said that hero was me.

“That's a pretty interesting dream you had there,” I told him, “but there's no way that it's true, right? I mean, it was just a dream.”

“A recurring dream, my friend. Tell me something Wilder, do you know of the nine?”

“Yeah, the nine divines consisting of 6 gods and 3 goddesses” I responded. 

“Correct, many believe that the nine guide us through life with an invisible hand.”

Yeah well, I'm not exactly on good terms with the gods right now” I sighed.

“The gods have reasons for guiding you the way they have, I believe you will find that out for yourself soon enough.”

“Why do you ask?” I wondered aloud

“I've served the nine all my life and I chart my course by the cycles of the heavens and from the heavens the skies are marked with numerous stars, sparks if you will. Every one of which is a sign. When one is born, they are born under a sign from the stars. One's birth sign can tell a lot about their character. Tell me, what sign were you born under?”

“My birth sign? I was born under the sign of the Warrior,” I told him.

“The Warrior, Those born under that specific sign are said to be skilled with all types of weapons.”

“Well,” I said smiling, “People do say I'm a quick learner.”

“They're also said to have quick temper's,”

“People may have also mentioned that,” I said, my smile fading.

“It's quite alright,” the Emperor laughed, “no need to get discouraged.”

We came to a door that was behind a gate. After checking it, Baurus told us the gate was locked.

“Well what do we do now?” I asked looking around.

Baurus looked around for a few seconds before pointing to a corridor.

“Let's try going through there to find another way through.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said.

We walked down the corridor until we came to a dead end. Baurus didn't look too happy about it and started looking around hoping it wasn't truly a dead end. The Emperor looked to be in deep thought.

Baurus walked towards me, “Wilder-” but was cut off by the sound of the gate in the main room rattling, and a sword being drawn.

“They're back! Wilder, Stay here and guard the emperor with your life!,”

“Got it,” I said as I drew the katana, “Don't die out there without my help,” I told him.

“Don't worry about me,” He said drawing his sword and running towards the threat.

“Wilder.”

I turned to face the emperor to see him clutching his necklace. The amulet of kings, an amulet said to be created by the god Akatosh from his own blood. Since Akatosh was a dragon, it was said that only one with the blood of a dragon in them could wear it, the royal family being part of that bloodline.

“Don't worry Emperor, I'm sure one day we'll all look back on this day and laugh.”

“This is the end for me,” he said taking off the amulet of kings.

“Don't speak nonsense Emperor, we'll get out of here,” assured him.

“Wilder, among my dreams I was giving the gift of seeing when my own death would occur and that day is today.”

I lowered my sword, stepping closer to him.

“I have a feeling that you aren't lying out of stress."

“Not at all,” he responded taking the amulet off and handing it to me.

“Not all hope is lost however, take the amulet of kings and find my son Martin, he is the only heir to the throne that lives.”

“Wait a minute, haven't all of your children passed?”

“All but one,” he responded, “The group who are after me go by the name of The Mythic Dawn, a group who's goal is to open the gates of Oblivion and let those known as Daedra ruin our world.”

“So they're behind all this,” I said looking at the amulet, “and they also opened the oblivion gates?”

“Correct. Find a man named Jauffre and give him the amulet, he will know where to find my last remaining child. He is needed to put an end to this crisis. Please Wilder, you must shut close the jaws of Oblivion.”

I nodded and took the amulet from him putting it in the pocket of my pants. They may be horribly worn prisoner clothes, but at least the pockets were still intact.

“I'll do this for you, but I'm going to get you out of here first,” I told him, “as far as I'm concerned we're friends now, and how cool would it be to say the Emperor is a friend of mine?”

The Emperor smiled at that and said, “friend. Yes, thank you my friend, I trust you with this mission.”

As he finished his sentence, the wall behind him shifted revealing a secret passage and out jumped a red robed figure. I pushed the emperor out of the way and clashed the Katana against the enemies sword. It was a good thing the blades had such durable weapons, or their sword would have knocked the katana out of my hands. As we both tried to force each others weapons out of our hands, I got a look at the attackers face under their hood.

“What in Oblivion...”

When I looked at his face, I noticed that he wasn't human. The whites of his eyes were orange and his pupils were red and there were two horns coming out of his forehead.

As I was distracted by what the attacker looked like, he shoved me aside by kicking my shin, and jumped at the emperor.

“NO! EMPEROR!” I screamed as I watched the attacker thrust his sword into the Emperor's chest.

He gave me a smile before the sword came out of his chest and he fell to the ground. The attacker walked towards me slowly prepared to do the same to me. 

I jumped to my feet and swung the katana at his sword, pushing it out of the way. I slashed the attacker from his left shoulder down to his thigh. He stepped back due to the force but didn't fall. As our swords clashed in a fury, I kicked him in the leg, causing him to kneel down allowing me to slice his throat open. He made a choking sound before falling over.

Baurus ran in just as the enemy fell.

“Talos save us,” he said as he knelt next to the Emperor.

“I'm sorry,” I said sheathing the Katana, “There wasn't anything I could do. Guess you really can't fight fate.”

“How did they get in?” he asked.

“Through the opening in the wall there,” I pointed.

“I-I've failed. The blades are sworn to protect the Emperor, now he and all his heirs are dead.”

We stood in silence for what seemed like a while until Baurus started looking around frantically.

“Where's the amulet of king's? It wasn't on the Emperor's body!”

“He gave it to me,” I said taking the amulet out of my pocket.

“Strange,” he said looking me In the eye, “he saw something in you. Trusted you. He must have given it to you for a reason, did he say why?”

“I must take this to Jauffre, the Emperor said there was another heir and Jauffre would know what to do.”

“Another heir?” Baurus looked confused, “nothing I've ever heard of, however, if there was someone who knew about this it would be Jauffre, He's the grand master of my order. Jauffre is a monk who lives up at weynon priory near the city of Chorrol.”

“Chorrol is north-west of the imperial city, I've been there before.”

“Then it shouldn't be hard for you to locate Weynon priory. Fist you have to get out of here, the attackers came through the locked gate back in the main room so you can go through there now. That's where we were supposed to be going, it leads to the sewers where you can exit out to the north of the imperial city.”

“What about you?” I asked putting the amulet back in my pocket, “what will you do?”

“I'll stay here to guard the Emperors body until help arrives. I'll make sure nobody follows you, may Talos guide you, Wilder.”

“Talos guide you Baurus,” I said shaking his hand.

“By the way, may I have captain Renault's sword? I noticed you recovered it. I'll see it receives a place of honor in the hall of the blades.”

“Oh, sure,” I said taking the katana from my side and handed it to him. I still had my bow on me so I wasn't worried.

“Thank you, better get going now. Head straight to weynon priory,” he told me.

“I'll have to make a quick stop at my house in the imperial city ti grab my things first,” I said looking at my prisoner's clothes. “Speaking of which...”

I walked over to the attacker who was now on the floor and took his cloak off. Underneath the cloak was a full set of armor which explained why my slash earlier had no effect. I put on the red cloak and looked back at Baurus.

“Can't walk into the city that arrested me not even a day ago while wearing prisoner clothing,” I said  
putting the hood on.  
“Well, you're not wrong,” Baurus laughed.

“Take care of yourself Baurus,” I said walking back to the main room.

“You too Wilder.”

I walked back to the main room and went through the now open gate. It led to a tunnel which circled around to some stairs. I slowly made my way down as to not attract attention to myself if anything was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me. I made it down without any struggle and found myself in the sewers, just like Baurus said.

“I am sick of being underground,” I muttered to myself as I walked through the sewers. 

After what felt like forever I came to a gate which had light shining through it.

“Oh yes! Finally!” I said racing to the gate. 

I opened it with ease and stepped out onto the light. I ended up outside next to a lake which I recognized well. I t was the lake that was just north of the Imperial city. I had ended up right where Baurus said I would. I turned around to see the Imperial city towering over me. I took my hood down and made my way towards the city.

It seemed to be about noon which was correct since it was about two in the morning when I was arrested.

I made my way up to the city and entered through the front gates.

'I hope nobody recognizes me until I can get home' I thought as a guard passed by. 

He didn't seem to care what I was doing and continued on. I wondered if he would have stopped me had I not been wearing the cloak, or if he didn't care either way.

I made my way to my house in the Talos plaza district and was about to reach for my key when I remembered that the guards had it, along with confiscated clothes I was wearing when they took me in.

There was a mat in front of the door and upon picking it up I found my spare key underneath. I always kept a spare under the mat and although it was a dangerous thing to do, I could deal with anyone who tried to steal from me. 

I used the key and stepped into the house. Everything was pretty much how I left it. I had a nice living room with two cushioned chairs and a nice wood table that held some book I had taken off the bookshelf, which was sitting in one of the corners of the room. Next to it were the stairs leading upstairs to my bedroom and a bathroom which consisted of...buckets. Next to the stairs was my kitchen where all the food was kept in cupboards and barrels. A nice wooden table with a tablecloth over it and a few chairs was all that was in the kitchen for furniture. Sitting at one of the chairs however was something that wasn't there when I left. Or should I say someone.

“Wilder? Oh man! Didn't you get thrown in prison!?” It was my friend who had abandoned me when we got caught, Malross Dexus, an imperial just like myself. I use the term 'friend' loosely.  
“You!” I said removing the hood of my cloak and walking towards him, “do you have any idea what your stupid plan got me into?”

“What's with the red robe?” he asked as he stood up from the chair to examine what I was wearing.

“That doesn't matter Mal!” I took off the robe and threw them on one of the chairs. Malross looked at me like I had three heads, I didn't know why until I realized that I was still in my prisoner clothes.

“Wait a minute, why are you wearing those clothes? If you were released then you should have been given your stuff back. And I thought your sentence was for life?”

“Look who's worried about me now,” I scoffed as I put my hand into my pocket to make sure the amulet of kings was still there.

“I was going to get you out!” Mal said frantically, “I was working on a plan from the minute I realized you didn't make it out!”

“Yeah, and that's why you're in my house eating my food,” I said as I looked at the half eaten loaf of bread and apples on the table.

“Well I had to refuel first, I was hungry.”

“So was I, while I was sitting in a prison cell.”

“Well hey, it all turned out well in the end right?”

'The end? No, this feels like it's just the beginning' I thought.

“So what happens now?” he asked, sitting back down, “When the guards realize you're missing they'll come here looking for you. You can't exactly stay.”

“I don't plan on staying long,” I informed him heading for the stairs, “I'm headed for Chorrol.”

“Awesome!” Mal responded, “when are we leaving?”

“Who said you were invited?” I asked as I was halfway up the stairs.

“Oh don't be like that, look, I'm sorry I ditched you back there.”

“So you admit that you left me for the guards?”

“Well when you put it that way,” Mal got up from his seat again and stood at the bottom of the stairs.

“Listen, I'm going to change, I'll be back in a minute. Don't eat everything in the house while I'm gone.”

I finished climbing the steps and entered my bedroom. The room had a bed, a bookshelf, a desk, a dresser, and a chest where I kept some of my important things in. I went through the dresser pulling out my set of leather armor that I kept in there for hunting. It wasn't as durable as the armor that got confiscated, but it was better than what I had on. I changed into the armor but decided to not put on the helmet until I needed it. I took the amulet of king's out and put it on the inside pocket of my leather armor.

Hanging on the wall was one of my most prized possessions. It was a two handed dwarven claymore sword. It belonged to my uncle before he passed away and left it to me. My parent's died when I was very young in a bandit raid and the only family I had was my uncle.

Taking the bow I had on off and into the dresser, I took the sword off the wall and put it in it's sheath. I wrapped it around my chest and stood with the sword at my back.

I headed back downstairs to find Mal finishing up his meal, he almost choked trying to talk to me with his mouth full.

“Swallow your food,” I chuckled.

“Ah, sorry, so when are we leaving?”

I knew that if I told Mal he couldn't come with me then he would just follow, so I decided it couldn't hurt to bring him along.

“We're leaving as soon as I put as much food as I can into this travel bag” I held up the backpack I was holding and started loading it up with supplies.

“Alright!” Mal exclaimed as he rushed into the living room and grabbed his silver mace, putting it at his side.

“Once we hit the road, I'm going to have to fill you in on everything that happened. I am in for one hell of an adventure.”

“Wait, so this isn't just you running from the imperial city guards? Now that I think about it, why would you pick Chorrol of all places?”

“I've got a lot to tell you Mal,” I said as I pulled the amulet of kings out, “and it all starts with this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter and most of this one were filled with the tutorial parts of the game and were a pain to deal with. (I'm sure you could tell based on some of the lines) Anyway, now that we've met Malross and are actually starting the adventure, things will most definitely pick up from here. Let's begin our quest!


	3. The Road To Chorrol

“So this is really the amulet of kings huh?”

Mal held up the amulet to the sky and let the sun gleam off of it. I had told him the whole story as we traveled to Chorrol on foot.

The sun was still up in the air but was starting to set. There was a nice breeze which kept the heat at bay. Although the spring weather wasn't too warm, the breeze was still nice.

“That's the one,” I said taking the amulet back, “this has to get to Jauffre as soon as possible, or things could get really bad really soon.”

“Do you know how awesome this is?” Mal asked excitedly, “we're like the saviors of the world right now. The fate of the world rests in the hands of Malross and Wilder!”

“This isn't some epic play,” I laughed.

“You're right, it's better!” Mal smiled.

We kept walking and made good progress while the sun kept falling behind the horizon. We decided to take a little break before we continued on.

The sky was now a yellow orange and the world felt calm for the moment. We were in an open field next to a forest and the trail we were walking on.

We opened our travel bag taking out food and water. I hadn't noticed how hungry I was until I started eating. I inhaled my food and looked out at the view we had while I drank some water. 

We were more or less on top of a hill. There was a bridge that would lead us towards the forest. Looking out into the distance I could see the imperial city sitting surrounded by a lake. The view was  
very pretty and relaxing.

“Hey! I have a surprise for you!” Mal said, disrupting the peaceful silence.

“What is it? I don't like the sound of that.”

“It's a gift,” he responded going through the travel bag. He had been carrying it all this was and had put stuff in it before we left that I didn't see, probably what he was talking about.

“This is to say sorry for leaving you behind the other day.”

Mal handed me a book, upon further inspection I recognized what it was.

“This is a tome for healing magic,” I opened the book and examined it's contents.  
I was a restoration spell simply called 'heal major wounds'.

“Cool, this will definitely come in handy” I said flipping through the pages.

The book was filled with instructions on how to use it and what the spell did exactly. There were also pages dedicated to telling you not to abuse magic.

“Yeah, and I'm gonna teach you how to use it too,” he said reaching into the travel bag again.

“Isn't magic convoluted to learn?” I asked closing the book.

“Not really,” he answered as he pulled a crystal out of his bag, “it just takes practice to be able to cast spells without any help.”

“What's that?” I asked looking at the blueish white crystal. It looked as if there was something moving inside of it, but was barely visible.

“This is a soul gem, swiped it along with the book,” he said sitting closer to me.

“Alright,” he said taking my hand and putting the soul gem in it. “Soul gems are used to bind magic to weapons and armor, they're really useful. Something that people don't talk about is that soul gems can also used to practice magic If you don't have elf blood or whatever in you ”

“So there's someone's soul in here?” I said looking at the soul gem.

“There could be, but I doubt it. The other book I took was all about soul gems and how they work. Human souls are a lot harder to obtain than any other so they need a strong soul gem to contain, they're called black soul gems.”

“How many things did you steal from them!?” I asked looking at the travel bag.

“Just the stuff I showed you and some other stuff I already sold to someone I know,” Mal laughed.

“Oh, is that all?” I asked.

“I got three soul gems. The first one I already used up, the second one I sold, and that's the third one.”

“Alright, so how does this work?” I asked holding up the soul gem.

“From what I understand, you have to bind the magic to yourself using the soul in the gem. It's not an ideal way to do it as the soul only has a limited use but it's good for learning.”

“So if I train like this will I be able to use this spell without the soul gem?” I asked. 

I'd never heard of using soul gems this way but it probably wasn't common knowledge because that would mean that anyone could get their hands on magic and misuse it.

“You have to use magic to bind a soul in the first place so it can be difficult If you don't have someone to teach you how to use magic.” Mal said.  
“Are there any teachers in the imperial city?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Not that I know of, probably in the mage's guild headquarters, I'm not going back there though.”

“I don't blame you.”

“Alright, I'm going to bind the magic to you using the gem. You could do it yourself but it'll be easier if I do it for you,” he said taking the gem from me.

“Alright, be careful,” I told him. I didn't want to be caught in a magical explosion.

“Don't worry, I'm practically a pro,” he responded. That only made me feel more worried.

Mal closed his eyes and clenched the soul gem in his fist. A blue light appeared from his first and wrapped around his arm. The light was absorbed into the soul gem and the moving from inside seemed to increase. Mal opened his eyes and pointed the soul gem at me. The blue light flew from the gem surrounded by a misty gray aura which I could only guess was the soul, and it wrapped around me.

“There, how do you feel?” he asked lowering his arm.

My body absorbed the soul and the spell, it felt like something was surging through my body.

“I can feel it, it's racing through my body.”

“Okay! That means it worked. Now you said you can feel it, try to focus it into your fist and let it build up.”

I did as he said and my fist started to glow the same colour of blue as Mal's had.

“Yes! There you go! Now release it.”

I relaxed my hand and the blue light surrounded my body. My legs which had been tired from walking all day felt energized and scratches I had on my arm from the sewers closed up.

“This is amazing!” I said standing up and looking at my arm where the scratches were.

“Isn't it though? At least something good came out of our trip to the mage's guild headquarters.”

“So how do I do this without the soul gem?” I asked looking at Mal's hand which now held a crumbled soul gem, only small shards were left of it.

“You have to do the same thing, it's just harder when you can't feel the magic surging through you.

“Interesting,” I said casting the healing spell again. 

“The more you cast spells the faster you get tired,” Mal said as he got up and stretched, “but you don't have to worry about that until the soul gem wears off. Right now you're using the souls energy, not your own.”

“I'll remember that,” I told him, “who taught you all this anyway? You had to have had help.”

Mal smiled, “I wasn't going to sell everything I got to Thoronir in the market district, but he offered to teach me how to use it.”

“You sold the stuff to Thoronir?”

“Yeah, what's wrong? He gave me a good price and I also sold the stuff to him before they were known to be stolen. Plus he's very loyal to his customers, he may not tell anyone who gave him the items. Even if he does it's not like I'm in the city anymore.”

“Yeah, I don't know. I don't get a good feeling from Thoronir. His prices are great though,” I said looking back to the Imperial city in the distance.

“Well, should we get going before it get's dark?” Mal asked as he picked up the travel bag.

“Yeah, we're almost to Chorrol. If we hurry we can make good time, it'll just be dark when we get there.”

“We'll get a room a the inn when we reach town, we have the money,” Mal smiled.

“Again, it's a good thing Thoronir gives good prices,” I said as we continued on the path.

We continued walking as the sun disappeared and night set in. We talked more about what happened down in the sewers when Mal asked to see the amulet. I passed it to him and he undid the clasp at the back.

“Are you going to put it on?” I asked.

“Yeah, that whole thing about only the royal family being able to wear it may only be a rumor.”

Mal put the amulet on and and took his hands away.

“See?” he said putting his hands on his hips.

“Yeah, I see. I see the amulet sitting in the grass,” I looked at Mal's feet where the amulet was sitting.

“Wha- but I didn't even feel it come off,” he said picking it up. 

“It just slipped off as if you didn't hook the clasp in the back,” I said taking it back, “the rumors are true.”

“That's a shame, it would have been fun to wear it. You think people would have treated us like royalty if we were wearing it?” he asked.

“They would probably ask why you were wearing the amulet of kings before realizing you weren't one of the emperor's children.”

“That seems a little more accurate,” Mal replied. 

“You know what I didn't actually realize?” he said as I was putting the amulet back in my pocket.

“What's that?” I asked.

“With the emperor dead, Cyrodiil is completely defenseless, especially if gates leading to Oblivion are opening up.”

“That's why it's extremely important that we get the amulet to Jauffre and find Martin.”

“I never even knew the emperor had a son named Martin. Why do you think he isn't part of the royal family?”

“Probably in case something like this ever happened,” I guessed, “It doesn't seem like it would be uncommon for royal families to keep one of their heirs apart from the rest of the family just in case.”

“Sure makes it a pain to find him though,” Mal said as he stretched his arms out.

“Better than him being killed with the rest of the emperor's children.”

“That's true. Hey, how much longer until we get to Chorrol? We've been walking for a long time and now the sun is almost set.”

“We're actually not far,” I told him, “You can see the town in the distance over there,” I said pointing ahead of us.

“So if Chorrol is up ahead, then where is Weynon Priory? I've never been there,” Mal said making me stop for a second.

“I've never been there either, I was told it was really close to Chorrol though.”

“Maybe we should ask around in town,” Mal suggested.

“Let's do it tomorrow,” I said yawning, “today I broke out of prison. you would be surprised at how much that takes out of you.”

“I can imagine,” Mal laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has my own take on how magic would work in the elder scrolls. I hope it fits with the games and I hope you like it!


End file.
